Foundation garment



March 23, 1965 s. GERSTEIN FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed April 11, 1963 INVENTOR omuel Gersrein BY f;

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,174,483 FOUNDATION GARMENT Samuel Gerstein, Kings Point, N.Y., assignor to Lady Marlene Brassiere Corp., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 272,344 3 Claims. (Cl. 128-542) This invention relates to a foundation garment, and more particularly to a ladies undergarment which is adapted to enhance the figure of a wearer, especially at the waistline, and which will provide easier access to the wearer when donning the garment.

One of the more important features of a foundation garment is its ability to provide restrictive controls to the Wearers figure, especially at the waistline. This, of course, requires that the circumference of the garment be extremely small in the area of the waistline in order to furnish the required confinement of such area. It is at once obvious that the average wearer will necessarily find donning such garment particularly diificult.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a garment with restrictive waistline control means which will in no way impede the donning of the garment by a wearer thereof.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an undergarment having waistline controls adapted to enhance the figure of the wearer.

The conventional garment and particularly the highwaist type of garment is generally provided with stiffening means especially at the front thereof. When such stiffening means are disposed at the sides where there is a greater concentration of soft, flabby tissue, the movement of the wearer is greatly restricted. If, on the other hand, such stiifening means are eliminated, there is a tendency for such side edges to roll over and create unsightly bulges.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an undergarment having means for confining the waistline of a wearer, especially at the sides thereof, to control unsightly bulges of flesh, and which will not restrict normal movement of the body of a wearer.

A further object herein is the provision of waist control means in an undergarment which will prevent creasing and folding of the upper side edges of such garment as a result of bodily movement of the wearer so as to maintain the garment in its original shape and position upon the body of the wearer.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a foundation garment which is comfortable upon the body of a wearer regardless of the position assumed by such wearer.

In accomplishing the foregoing, and other objects and advantages of the present invention, there is provided a pair of resilient bands, each of which is anchored to the side of the front panel of an undergarment at the upper part thereof, and extending around the sides of the garment, the ends of said bands tapering and terminating at the rear of the garment in overlapping relationship. Since the confining force of the front panel of the garment is such that stresses are necessarily directed to the sides of the garment, the tapered ends in overlapping relationship can efiectively dissipate such stress without creasing or rolling. Such bands are additionally responsive to the added stress exerted upon the garment while it is being donned by the wearer, and will retain its original position to effectively control the waistline area of the body of a wearer.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those versed in the art from the following description of an embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in the drawings in which like reference characters refer to like parts in the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the garment according to the present invention;

IZIG. 2 is a rear view of the garment shown in FIG. 1 an FIG. 3 is a view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings. The garment 10 according to the present invention is comprised of a rear panel 11 secured to side panels 12, 13 by stitching 14 along the vertical edges thereof. A front panel 15, the bottom edge of which is substantially in alignment with the bottom edge of side panels 12, 13, and the top edge of which extends above the top edge of said side panels 12, 13 by stitching 16 to form a body-encircling structure.

Extending from each side of front panel 15, there is provided resilient bands 20, 21 secured by stitching 22 to the front panel 15 along the edges thereof projecting above the top edges of side panels 12, 13. Said bands 20, 21, provided with tapered ends, extend around the top edges of side panels 12, 13 and rear panel 11 and terminate in overlapping relationship substantially across the rear panel 11. Bands 20, 21 are further secured to the top edges of side panels 12, 13 and rear panel 11 by stitching 23.

The garment 10 is further provided with conventional hose supporters 25 and plush tape 26 along the top and bottom edges thereof.

It is to be understood that although the present invention has been described and shown in the drawings with reference to one embodiment thereof, various embodiments and adaptations may be made without constituting a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as herein described and defined.

I claim:

1. A foundation garment comprising in combination:

front, rear and side panels secured to one another to form a body encircling structure;

said rear and side panels having:

an upper edge extending substantially completely about said structure;

said front panel having:

a portion extending above said upper edge at the front of said structure; and

yieldable confining means having:

a lower edge; and

an upper edge;

said confining means, at one end thereof, being connected to said portion of the front panel, and, along said lower edge, being connected to the side and rear panels along the upper edge thereof;

said confining means, at another end thereof, being secured to one another only along said lower edge in an overlapping relationship substantially at the rear of said structure.

2. A garment as defined in claim 1, wherein:

said confining means comprises:

a plurality of resilient bands having:

tapered portions at the other end thereof.

3. A foundation garment comprising, in combination:

front, rear and side panels secured to one another to form a body encircling structure having:

a front portion; and

a rear portion;

said rear and side panels having:

an upper edge extending substantially completely about said structure;

said front panel having:

a portion extending above said upper edge at the front portion of said structure; and

3 a plurality of resilient bands each having: References Cited by the Examiner edge; and UNITED STATES PATENTS an upper e ge; said bands, at one end of each thereof, being connected g a to said portion of the front panel, and, along said 5 2977959 4/61 s lower edge, being connected to the side and rear e Sc panels along the upper edge thereof; F REIGN PATENTS said bands, at another end of each thereof, being d b 840,672 7/60 Great Britain.

tapere and eing secured to one another only along I said lower edge in an overlapping relationship sub- 10 DELBERT LOWE Prlmfuy Examiner stantially at the rear portion of said structure. ADELE EAGER Exammer- 

1. A FOUNDATION GARMENT COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: FRONT, REAR AND SIDE PANELS SECURED TO ONE ANOTHER TO FORM A BODY ENCIRCLING STRUCTURE; SAID REAR AND SIDE PANELS HAVING: AN UPPER EDGE EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETELY ABOUT SAID STRUCTURE; SAID FRONT PANEL HAVING: A PORTION EXTENDING ABOVE SAID UPPER EDGE AT THE FRONT OF SAID STRUCTURE; AND YIELDABLE CONFINING MEANS HAVING: A LOWER EDGE; AND AN UPPER EDGE; SAID CONFINING MEANS, AT ONE END THEREOF, BEING CONNECTED TO SAID PORTION OF THE FRONT PANEL, AND, ALONG SAID LOWER EDGE, BEING CONNECTED TO THE SIDE AND REAR PANELS ALONG THE UPPER EDGE THEREOF; 